Where do I even start when talking about this film? I've always loved this franchise and as each installment comes out the filmmakers find new ways to thrill audiences, "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" is no exception. Back in 2015 I gushed to everyone that would listen about how awesome "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation" was, Tom Cruise hung onto the side of an airplane while actually taking off! That has got to be one of the most insane things I've ever heard and seeing on the big screen was just as insane. So, how could they possibly top that? easily one of the most intense, exciting, and dangerous stunts ever performed? Well, they did it. They topped that. In "Fallout" Cruise takes things to a whole new level, spent a year training to fly a helicopter and perform his own helicopter stunt chase. Yeah, that's right. He did it all, and it looked incredible. That on top of all the other action, the chase sequences, the hand-to-hand combat, all with a memorable story, incredible supporting cast members make "Fallout" one of the best films of the year.

"Fallout" takes place two years after "Rogue Nation", overall bad guy and evil genius Solomon Lane (Sean Harris) has been captured by Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his shadow organization, The Syndicate has fallen apart but has reformed into a new arm of terrorists calling themselves the Apostles. Ethan is tasked with locating the mysterious leader of this new group, John Lark... but who is Lark and why are the Apostles trying to acquire plutonium cores? When Hunt's mission fails to intercept and take down the Apostles the world is suddenly plunged into danger. CIA agent August Walker (Henry Cavill) is tasked with keeping tabs on Hunt and his team; Luther (Ving Rhames) and Benji (Simon Pegg) while trying to take control of the mission to locate to cores, but Solomon Lane gets in the way, and twists and turns inevitably pop up to derail Hunt at every turn.

One thing is for sure, Tom Cruise is an incredible showman, he will do anything to thrill movie audiences and make sure that everything he does, he does for real and on screen. Let's just rundown the checklist of crazy things Cruise did for this film:

1) He trained for a year to perform a HALO (High Latitude Low Opening) jump.
2) He performed all the physical stunts himself, including jumping from one building to the next during an on-foot chase sequence, in the process he fractured his ankle... but continued the stunt until he was off camera.
3) The hand-to-hand bathroom combat scene took almost 4 weeks to shoot.
4) He drove all the vehicles for the chase scenes, the BMW and motorcycle stunts where all performed by Tom, in Paris, against traffic during a limited window of shutting down some key locations.
5) He performed a stunt called "Long Line" in which he climbed a long line from a helicopter, and climbed up it and into the vehicle... he did this for real (granted there where safety harnesses in place, but still? Come on).
6) He trained with Airbus to learn how to fly a helicopter and for the helicopter chase scene he performed all the stunts, o his own, without a co-pilot in the vehicle and performed a spiral manoeuvre. Which is difficult for most experienced stunt pilots, Cruise learned it in 4 days.

Seriously, that's a lot. Any one of those things would have been great, but not for Cruise. They had to push the envelope and succeeded, it's because of all these lengths they went to that "Fallout" grabs you by the collar and never lets go. You'll be on the edge of your seat for the entire 147 minutes. The longest film in the franchise and not once was it a chore, the time just flew by.

Not only is there great action but the plot is tight and well executed. It's pretty straight forward and there are some twists and turns that convolute the story a little but it's mostly to pull viewers in one direction while keeping the twists under wraps until the optimal reveal lays it all out. The cast all does a great job of engaging the viewers, while Tom is jumping, driving, climbing, and fighting - Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg bring their usual charm to characters that by this time around (they have appeared in all six instalments) are fully rounded and long established. New members of the cast also bring plenty to the table, with Henry Cavill and his now infamous moustache delivering a memorable and excellent performance along side Cruise's Hunt. The film's villain Solomon Lane, making his second appearance in an "M:I" movie is once again portrayed by Sean Harris, who is menacing, intimidating, and just the type of villain this film requires - a formidable foe that is set to cause world-wide scale devastation.

The ladies also get in on the fun as well, Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) returns for her second outing in an "M:I" film and offers up a formidable equal to Cruise's Hunt. Her motorcycle sequence in Paris as she tracks Hunt is one of the many memorable moments. The White Widow (Vanessa Kirby) adds a dangerous air of mystery, and Julia (Michelle Monaghan) also returns to bolster the tension in the film's final act.

This film really fires on every level, the story, the action, the performances, the cinematography, the score, it all comes together to deliver an true edge-of-your-seat experience like no other. "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" is not only one of the best action films of the year but one of the best films of the year, period.

Video

Presented in the film's original ratios of 2.40:1 for the standard film footage and it opens up to 1.90:1 for the IMAX shot sequences. The transfer is in 4K 2160p 24/fps using HEVC compression. The image is fantastic, sharp, colorful, detailed, and showing off the incredible locations and sets with impeccable resolution. Skin tones looks terrific and most importantly natural, blacks and deep and rich. There are no noticeable flaws that I could detect. Watch this film on the biggest screen you can! The package also includes an HD Blu-ray version as well also in 2.40:1/1.90:1 ratios in 1080p 24/fps using AVC MPEG-4 compression.

Audio

There are many audio options available. The 4K disc features an English Dolby Atmos track, a French (Canadian) Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, French (Parisian) Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, Portuguese (Brazilian) Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, Spanish (Castilian) Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, Spanish (Latin) Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, and an English Audio Descriptive Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track. The Blu-ray edition features audio in English Dolby Atmos, French (Canadian) Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, Portuguese (Brazilian) Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, Spanish (Latin) Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, and also English Audio Descriptive Dolby Digital 5.1 surround. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film in 4K with its English Dolby Digital Atmos audio track, and this is certainly the best way to watch this film. The dialogue is crystal clear, but it's the film's complex, rich, and detailed action audio that really shines. The surround effects are incredible and really immerse the viewer into the film. The helicopters, the cars, the motorcycles, the gun shots, the explosions, all of it works brilliantly and feels balanced. Further more the exciting score from Lorne Balfe adds to the overall excitement. The 4K transfers includes optional subtitles are in Danish, Dutch, English, English for the hearing impaired, Finnish, French (Canadian), French (Parisian), Norwegian, Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Latin), and Swedish. The Blu-ray disc features optional subtitles in English, English for the hearing impaired, French (Canadian), Portuguese (Brazilian), and Spanish (Latin).

Extras

Paramount has included a decent amount of supplements broken down by disc below.

DISC ONE: 4K BLU-RAY

This disc features a screen-specific feature length audio commentary with the film's director Christopher McQuarrie and actor Tom Cruise. McQuarrie is the only director to make more than one of these films and he discusses the importance of creating a different style for this film so as to continue the tradition of each film being stylistically unique. The two comment on the challenges of making an action film of this scale and creating sequences that continually surprise and keep audiences on the edge. It's an excellent track and worth listening to.

A second audio commentary with the film's director Christopher McQuarrie and editor Eddie Hamilton, this is a more technical track that takes a look at the structure of the film and using editing to create and craft exciting and memorable sequences among other things.

There's also a third audio commentary with composer Lorne Balfe as he comments on joining the franchise for the first time and creating the music for the film's score.

You can also listen to the score via an isolated score track presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, this features the film's score only without any of the other sound design and dialogue elements.

DISC TWO: BLU-RAY

This disc features the same tracks that are featured on the 4K disc, the audio commentary with the film's director Christopher McQuarrie and actor Tom Cruise.

Also the same third audio commentary with composer Lorne Balfe as well as the isolated score track in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround.

DISC THREE: BLU-RAY

All the video extras are included on this disc.

"Behind the Fallout" documentary is excellent and covers the creation of some of the film's most impressive sequences, they can be viewed with a "play all" option (53:32). They break down into 7 segments:

"Foot Chase Musical Breakdown" featurette (4:50), in this clip the film's composer comments on creating the music for this scene.

"The Ultimate Mission" featurette (2:51) is the usual EPK material, promotional clip that features a brief interview with Cruise.

There are also storyboards created for the following scenes:

- Paris
- What If?
- London
- Helicopter

Finally the extras are rounded out with the film's original theatrical trailer (2:33), nice to have included this but there were so many other trailers including the one for the Super Bowl as well as numerous TV spots that for some reason are not included?

The package also includes a code for the digital copy version of the film.

Packaging

Packaged in a standard 3-disc 4K blu-ray case housed in a cardboard slip-case.

Overall

What are you waiting for? If you haven't seen this film, see it now. If you have already seen it, then see it again. It's worth it and I can't wait for more instalments and see what the filmmakers can possible think of doing next.

The Film: A+

Video: A+

Audio: A+

Extras: A

Overall: A+

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